INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Jalen Rose was a thorn in the side of
the Houston Rockets all night long.

Rose scored a career-high 35 points, including 13 in the fourth
quarter, as the Indiana Pacers got back on the winning track at
home by holding off the Rockets, 111-102.

Houston trailed by as many as 23 points but Cuttino Mobley led a
surge in the fourth quarter as he went 6-of-7 from the field and
scored 15 points. His driving layup with 2:07 remaining cut
Indiana's lead to 107-102.

"The fourth quarter is the time where I step it up," Mobley
said. "It's the hardest time to score for anybody. But I love
taking challenges and just doing my best."

Rose, who shot 5-for-6 in the fourth quarter, responded with a
running jumper as the Pacers took a seven-point lead with 1:41
left.

"The team got upset with me and said I was passing up shots, so
I decided I would go back to putting the ball up," said Rose,
who made 14-of-24 shots.

Mobley's only fourth-quarter miss came with 1:21 to play and
Indiana rebounded. Travis Best was fouled and sank both free
throws with 1:04 remaining as Indiana built a commanding 111-102
lead.

"There's no disgrace in a loss like this one," Houston coach
Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We are a young team struggling with
injuries. Tonight, we showed character in not giving up and
closing it to five. I'm proud of how we played in the second
half."

Austin Croshere matched career highs with 22 points and 13
rebounds and Rik Smits added 21 points for Indiana, which was
playing its first home game since having a franchise-record
25-game winning streak at Conseco Fieldhouse snapped by Miami on
Sunday.

Indiana led by as many as 16 points early in the fourth quarter,
but an 18-9 run allowed Houston to move within 101-94. Mobley
had eight in the surge, including a running jumper with 5:31 to
play.

"They (Rockets) went to a smaller lineup, they were quicker than
us and we were fatigued," Indiana coach Larry Bird said. "We
had too many guys playing too many minutes."

The Pacers shot under 49 percent (42-of-86), including 6-of-15
from 3-point range, and outrebounded the Rockets, 40-38. Reggie
Miller, Indiana's leading scorer, was to seven points, 12 below
his average.

The Rockets trailed by 21 at the half but Walt Williams scored
11 points in the third quarter to help cut the deficit. His
12-foot jumper with 8:17 left completed a 12-5 run to open the
second half and allowed the Rockets to move within 71-57.

A 3-pointer by Croshere allowed the Pacers to build an 86-67
advantage but Anderson sank four free throws in a 9-1 run as
Houston pulled within 87-76 with 1:14 to play.

Smits scored 13 points and Rose added 11 in the first quarter as
Indiana grabbed a 35-21 advantage.

The Pacers scored the first six points of the second quarter as
Croshere's dunk with 10:35 remaining extended the lead to 41-21.
After a dunk by Houston's Kelvin Cato cut the deficit to 56-39,
the Pacers went on a 10-4 run to take their largest lead of the
game.

Indiana shot 56 percent (13-of-23) in the second quarter and
built a 66-45 lead at the half.

"We played lackadaisical early and it cost us the game," said
rookie Steve Francis, who was held to 12 points on 4-of-14
shooting. "We gave them too many easy baskets in the first
half."

Williams scored 16 points for the Rockets, who shot 47 percent
(38-of-80), including 6-of-15 from behind the arc.

Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon was held to eight points but grabbed
five rebounds to move past Jerry Lucas into 11th place on the
all-time list with 12,943.